3 ms·

True. Rural areas though? Try suburbs. People are moving just far enough away from the downtown core so they can afford a modest house. Let's not give anyone th

by skosch 8y ago

True. Rural areas though? Try suburbs. People are moving just far enough away from the downtown core so they can afford a modest house. Let's not give anyone the impression that Canadians are abandoning the cities to reconnect with mother nature.

randomdata 8y ago
That is what the data suggests to me. The very rural farming community I grew up in, for instance, that is well outside of any city, several hours away from a major city, has seen 17% population growth (the country grew by 5%). Along with that growth, the value of the average home has increased by 50% in the last two years. This region has the lowest unemployment rate in the province, and the median individual income is now $10,000 more per year than in Toronto. And anecdotally, it feels like it is booming. New businesses are popping up left and right. The main street is packed full of people, something that you wouldn't have seen a decade ago. It's a complete turnaround to what I grew up with. Thriving leaves room for subjectivity, but it certainly is in my opinion. From population growth to relatively higher incomes, it all seems quite favourable by the data, and the visit leaves the same impression. I am starting to look to moving back there myself! The people leaving Toronto are going somewhere, and everything points to this being one of those places. According to Statistics Canada, communities of 1,000 to 29,999 people were the fastest growing community type from 2011 to 2016. Communities with 100,000 people or more have started to lose share of the population. I do not think anyone should see this as people reconnecting with nature. They are almost certainly following the money.
- skosch 8y ago
  That picture doesn't really fit with what I've read; or the stories I hear from everyone around me (I live in downtown TO). But in that case I hope I'm wrong – the story of your hometown is heartening!
  - randomdata 8y ago
    Now you have me curious about what you've read. For what it is worth, all the numbers from before are from Statistics Canada (and CREA for housing data). A few data points can never tell the whole story, but they seem like very pertinent indicators. Understandably rural is pretty vague. Almost the entirety of the country is rural, and like not all cities are booming, not all rural areas are either. I want to be clear that I am speaking about a set of rural regions within the country. I vacation in Toronto a few times a year, and keep in touch with residents there, so I feel I have a pretty good idea of what the people are saying. Their stories are usually on point if you consider them to be several years out of date. That is the impression I get, at least. If we were to select a rural location at random, the average person would have no idea where it is and I feel that due to that there is some inherit information lag. It is not like these places are in the news every day, so most people just don't know.

by skosch 8y ago

randomdata 8y ago

That is what the data suggests to me. The very rural farming community I grew up in, for instance, that is well outside of any city, several hours away from a major city, has seen 17% population growth (the country grew by 5%). Along with that growth, the value of the average home has increased by 50% in the last two years. This region has the lowest unemployment rate in the province, and the median individual income is now $10,000 more per year than in Toronto. And anecdotally, it feels like it is booming. New businesses are popping up left and right. The main street is packed full of people, something that you wouldn't have seen a decade ago. It's a complete turnaround to what I grew up with. Thriving leaves room for subjectivity, but it certainly is in my opinion. From population growth to relatively higher incomes, it all seems quite favourable by the data, and the visit leaves the same impression. I am starting to look to moving back there myself! The people leaving Toronto are going somewhere, and everything points to this being one of those places. According to Statistics Canada, communities of 1,000 to 29,999 people were the fastest growing community type from 2011 to 2016. Communities with 100,000 people or more have started to lose share of the population. I do not think anyone should see this as people reconnecting with nature. They are almost certainly following the money.

skosch 8y ago
That picture doesn't really fit with what I've read; or the stories I hear from everyone around me (I live in downtown TO). But in that case I hope I'm wrong – the story of your hometown is heartening!
- randomdata 8y ago
  Now you have me curious about what you've read. For what it is worth, all the numbers from before are from Statistics Canada (and CREA for housing data). A few data points can never tell the whole story, but they seem like very pertinent indicators. Understandably rural is pretty vague. Almost the entirety of the country is rural, and like not all cities are booming, not all rural areas are either. I want to be clear that I am speaking about a set of rural regions within the country. I vacation in Toronto a few times a year, and keep in touch with residents there, so I feel I have a pretty good idea of what the people are saying. Their stories are usually on point if you consider them to be several years out of date. That is the impression I get, at least. If we were to select a rural location at random, the average person would have no idea where it is and I feel that due to that there is some inherit information lag. It is not like these places are in the news every day, so most people just don't know.